Black soldier fly larvae

[pattyhud]

Hi, I have been giving my hens a couple handfuls of black soldier fly larvae everyday As a treat. Is that too much?

 

[BarnyardChaos]

That depends on how many chickens you have The recommendation is to treat them no more than 10% of their daily intake of balanced regular feed.

By the way, welcome to Backyard Chickens! Glad to have you here

 

[mldlm]

I have a question about this, too. Black soldier fly grubs have a lot of calcium. Can I give them this along with oyster shell, or instead of. Also, can the non-layers eat this ok? My two younger ones are due to start laying soon. Thanks

 

[HeatherKellyB]

I have a question about this, too. Black soldier fly grubs have a lot of calcium. Can I give them this along with oyster shell, or instead of. Also, can the non-layers eat this ok? My two younger ones are due to start laying soon. Thanks

You can give these treats along with having oyster shell available on the side. Always have oyster shell available on the side for your hens to use as they deem necessary. Non-layers can have DBSFL as a treat too

 

[mldlm]

You can give these treats along with having oyster shell available on the side. Always have oyster shell available on the side for your hens to use as they deem necessary. Non-layers can have DBSFL as a treat too

Thank you! I was weighing the difference between DBSFL and mealworms. I was just worried that the calcium from the DBSFL might be too much with the oyster shell that I already have out for them.

 

[Robert Smith]

Thanks for having me in the forum. I raised chickens many years ago and have begun again this spring with 12 assorted chicks. I'm simultaneously rigging up a black soldier fly bin and, if all goes well, wonder if there is any way to preserve the larvae (assuming things work out and I get a surplus) for cold weather feeding. Does anyone know how to do this? Thanks in advance.

 

[Vata Raven]

I'm simultaneously rigging up a black soldier fly bin

you could forgo the special bin, and craft a normal compost barrel/bin with a plywood ramp that drops into a bucket/bin

from what I saw, they crawl upward to get out once mature enough, so it doesn't matter what you use to help their escape

and if the bucket is deep enough, they can't crawl out, and they die in the bucket. Thus, giving you winter food.

Now if you want an indoor setting, NWRedworms' YouTube might be of help